84,000 Different Delusions
by Alithea
Summary: AU setting. Skirting the edges of F/F. Sylvia is a regular where Sally bartends. Time goes by, but the conversation remains the same.


**Title: 84,000 Different Delusions**  
**Rating: PG-13**  
**Skirting the edges of F/F content**  
**Characters are not mine I am just borrowing.**

"You still love her, don't you," Sylvia asked as she leaned into the bar. It was only three o'clock, the bar had barely opened, but she was there and so was Sally. Sally Po the perpetually subtle-smiling, but broken hearted bartender.

Sally sighed heavily as she wiped out a glass and stacked it with the others she was washing. She shrugged and then said, "I'm…not quite sure how to stop. It's not quite the same as it was and yet-" She picked up another glass and shrugged again.

"And yet?" Sylvia smiled and moved from her spot to sit down on a barstool. She put her elbows on the bar and placed her chin in an upturned palm, tilting her head slightly. "There's a part of you somewhere that just doesn't want to quit."

Sally nodded.

"How does that work with…" She trailed off and sat upright. She brushed a strand of blonde hair from her face and then shook her head. "I suppose if it works it works."

"Works with what," Sally asked pointedly, and then began to put the clean glasses away in their proper places.

Sylvia crossed her legs and leaned back into her palm. Her fingers drummed along the bar slowly, and then began to trace random patterns. Her eyes shifted slightly to watch the owner of the establishment walk back to his solitary spot in the office. She grimaced and sat up again.

"I would like a martini," Sylvia said.

"Gin or vodka?"

"That you even have to ask is terribly depressing."

"Ah, well…" Sally turned around, arms crossed over her chest with a larger smile than usual on her face, as she continued saying, "being a bartender I have to keep drinking trends in mind. If you were just at my place-"

"That would be lovely," Sylvia said quickly.

"Uh." Sally blinked and then said, "Gin then, the real deal."

Sylvia shut her eyes and nodded. "Two olives, lightly shaken."

Sylvia usually left the bar early. She came from work and left by seven or eight to avoid the rush and tug of the later hours. She also never had much to drink. Some days she just sat and nursed a cola or a glass of water while laughing and chatting with some of the other regulars. She had a spot at the corner of the bar nearest to where Sally usually worked.

Sylvia was tired of her routine.

She arrived late and took a seat closer to the DJ. She ordered a gin and tonic, light on the tonic and the ice. She chatted with some of the newer faces, and once she even allowed herself to be pulled onto the small patch of tile that served as a dance floor.

It had been a nice a change.

She left just before last call.

The change wasn't quite enough.

"So you have a new flame," Sylvia asked as she hopped over to the bar during Happy Hour. "I'll have a… hmmm…" She winked and then said, "Surprise me."

Sally raised an eyebrow and said, "Really?"

"I trust you."

"Right." She gathered up a few things and began mixing a drink. She shook it lightly and added it to a martini glass. It was clear with a twist of lemon. She slid it across the bar and realized her fingers were lingering a bit too long along Sylvia's as the young woman reached out to accept the drink.

"Thank you." Sylvia ignored or didn't notice the prolonged contact. She brought the glass to her lips and took a sip. "Ah…Vodka martini…With a twist." She smirked and then said, "Refreshing in this heat."

"It's the middle of winter."

"Exactly," Sylvia responded as she stepped off to a table, which seemed to be part of her new routine. She hadn't sat in the same spot for months. She always changed. She was always trying something new. She wanted surprises, suggestions. She called them experiments.

Sally went back to work as she was called for a few more rounds from other patrons. As she filled the drink orders her eyes would drift over towards Sylvia and she found herself wondering what it was that was trying to happen.

"Explain it to me again," Sylvia asked politely, taking a sip from her cola and looking attentive.

"I love her," Sally said softly.

"Right."

"She doesn't love me."

"Okay." She took another sip.

"I'm not _in love_ with her anymore."

"Uh huh." She nodded and plucked a pretzel out of a nearby bowl, popping it in her mouth.

"But I still care."

"Which is fine."

"It just upsets me when she's evasive and acting like…" She took a deep breath.

"Like?" Sylvia picked up another pretzel.

"Like no one else cares." Sally picked up a clean towel and started to wipe down the bar. "I mean… I mean…" She shook her head. "What do I mean?"

"You love her," Sylvia said. "When she acts like you don't or no one does it hurts, because you honestly do. She wastes her time on these other people who are terrible for her, and you try to be supportive, and lend an open ear, but all the while you keep wondering why she bothers. Why she just doesn't give them all up recognizing what's right there, been right there." She let out a little breath and added, "Right in front of her face."

Sally's brow knit together in thought and then she nodded. "Yes, I suppose you're right."

"We should have shots," Sylvia said. "What's a good tequila?"

"Sylvia?"

"Yes."

"I know you're right here," Sally said softly. She picked up one of the top shelf tequilas and poured out two shots. She slid one over to Sylvia.

Sylvia shut her eyes and nodded. She picked up the shot and held it out. "To…delusions."

Sally clinked the other shot glass along side it and said, "To love that never goes away."

"Sometimes," Sylvia replied quickly after downing her shot, "Sometimes it has to."

End.


End file.
